Missing girls "abducted" say police

Candles were lit at a vigil for the girls

Police leading the search for the two missing ten year olds, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, are beginning to believe that they've been abducted.

The policeman leading the hunt for the best friends, who vanished on Sunday evening, told Breakfast that it was looking increasingly likely that the best friends had been kidnapped.

Detective Superintendent David Hankins told Breakfast this morning (Thursday):

"From everything we know about the girls - their families and lifestyle and the fact that no-one has seen them, it's increasingly likely that they've been abducted."

Police officers have spent the night examining footage from a closed circuit TV camera near the girls' homes in Soham.

They're planning to release the results in a news conference at 10am this morning, in the hope that other people on the video may come forward.

"The images are not very clear - we need to check with the parents to make 100 per cent sure that they are the girls, but we are very optimistic about this video," DS Hankins told Breakfast.

click here to watch our interview in full with DS Hankins

Reward

Meanwhile Express Newspapers has offered a £1m reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the abduction of the best friends.

	:	Holly and Jessica
Maps showing focus of the investigation

And The Sun and the News of the World newspapers have offered a £150,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to solving the mystery behind the pair's disappearance.

The last confirmed sighting of the two girls was at 1830BST on Sunday near their homes in Soham, Cambridgeshire.

Police say someone who knows them saw the girls walking along the lower end of the main street towards the town centre.

They are believed to have been on their way to buy sweets after spending much of the day playing at Holly's home.

Anyone who's got children must know what we're going through

Nicola Wells
Holly's mother

On Wednesday night hundreds of people attended a vigil for the missing pair at St Andrew's Church in Soham.

Relatives of the girls sat at the front of the church as prayers were said for the best friends and those searching for them.

Holly's parents Nicola and Kevin Wells lit a candle for their daughter and Jessica.

Vicar Tim Alban Jones said the service was an "act of hope".

More than 250 officers, including 60 specialist search experts, spent Wednesday checking waterways and river banks for clues.

Derbyshire Police have loaned out the services of a statistical profiler who works on cases when children go missing.

Search co-ordinator superintendent Simon Edens urged residents living in and around Soham to "check, check and check again" any sheds and outbuildings on their land.

"There is still a chance the girls are hiding or sheltering," he said.

Police who led the hunt in Sussex for murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne and for missing teenagers Milly Dowler and Danielle Jones have been drafted in to help.

Mobiles may help find missing girls
Click here for the story in full

DS Hankins said: "Sadly, this inquiry is rapidly turning from a missing persons inquiry to an investigation of criminal abduction."

Holly's mother, said: "Anyone who's got children must know what we're going through."

Jessica's mother, Sharon Chapman, said this was totally out of character because she was such a sensible and confident girl.

"Jessica doesn't like the dark, she would come home," she said.

Both girls are described as white, about 4ft 6in tall and slim. Jessica is tanned and has shoulder-length brown hair while Holly is fair and has blonde hair.

They were both wearing Manchester United shirts at the time, and police have asked other youngsters in the area not to wear anything similar, to avoid confusion.

Police have issued a dedicated telephone hotline for the public to call on 01480 422982.